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Driver surrendered licence

Crash driver with blood infection told by hospital staff he shouldn't have been on the road

AN elderly driver rushed to hospital after a serious accident, was told by the medical staff he shouldn't have been behind the wheel, a north court heard today.
Eighty-year-old David Warren had a blood infection which, it was thought, could have impaired his ability to drive. His licence was subsequently suspended by the DVLA and the retired manager opted to surrender it after more than 40 trouble-free years behind the wheel..
Warren admitted a charge of dangerous driving at Wick. Sheriff Andrew Berry admonished him, saying it would be "inappropriate" to fine him but had to impose a mandatory driving ban of a year. Warren, of 8 Upper Burnside Avenue, Thurso, admitted a charge of dangerous driving.
The court heard about the erratic extent of it, in Thurso, in the afternoon of of August 17. His small vehicle was observed swerving, mounting the pavement, driving on the wrong side of the road and failing to negotiate a junction before colliding with a mortgage shop in Princes Street, activating the vehicle's air bag.
Warren sustained a broken sternum, two broken ribs and there was a bleed within the bowel area, injuries that might well have been life-threatening, said fiscal Fraser Matheson who added that there was certainly a suggestion that the accused was "very poorly". He was seen at a Wick hospital before being airlifted to Raigmore Hospital, at Inverness for treatment.
In court Warren, who did not have legal representation, said that prior to the accident he was being treated with prescription drugs for his blood infection but he had not been advised not to drive.
He told Sheriff Berry that had he known this, he would have not have driven and added: "I am just grateful that no-one was injured in the accident."
It was stated that there was no question of drink having been involved and Warren's sight was "better than it had ever been" after an operation, a few months earlier in which artificial lenses were inserted.
Sheriff Berry, who was told that Warren had covered 20,000 to 30,000 miles a year when he was working, without any trouble, informed him that he was duty bound to disqualify him, although it was a technical ban as the accused would not be driving in any case.
Warren said: "I have accepted that my driving days are over."
Sheriff Berry told him: "You have a long life of decent behaviour and driving without a blemish. The circumstances of the accident would have caused those who saw them, some concern but it was not deliberately occasioned on your part. It seems that justice would be served by admonishing you. I think it would be inappropriate to fine you."